The present invention relates, in general, to pill dispensers, and in particular, to a new and useful dispenser which is specially constructed to dispense pills that have been blister packed.
The use of blister packs to contain pills has become increasingly popular. Blister packs tend to be much more sanitary than loose pills in a bottle and are much less susceptible to tampering. By avoidance of light and moisture, greater product stability is achieved. Blister packs are commonly made of a transparent plastic sheet which has been formed to carry a matrix of depressions or blisters. One pill is received in each depression or blister. A foil or plastic backing is then firmly adhered across the plane of the sheet, sealing the pills in their respective blisters.
To extract a pill, a person must either cut the foil and plastic and then pull the cut edges apart to open one of the blisters, or push the pill through the foil backing to rupture the backing and extract the pill.
Throughout this disclosure, the term "pill" is used to identify not only pressed pills that are usually cylindrical in shape, but also elongated caplets, capsules, tablets, gelcaps and any other form of medication or vitamin amenably to being stored in blister packs.
A problem with known blister packs is that sometimes the pills are difficult to extract from the depression or blister, especially for the elderly and for individuals suffering from symptoms which are meant to be treated by the pill, for example in the case of an individual suffering from a migraine headache who is trying to extract headache medication from its blister pack.
A large number of unit dosage devices are also known, which are generally made of plastic and have multiple compartments, most commonly one compartment for each day of the week or multiple compartments for each day, for those individuals who must take medication more than once a day.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,025 to Romick, discloses a unit-dose dispenser which has provision for labelling daily dosages but which is also specially designed to receive blister packed dosages. The Romick patent captures a blister pack between top and bottom plates. Apertures are provided in the top plate for receiving the blisters and in the bottom plate for permitting discharge of a pill which is pressed from a blister. This reference does not make the extraction process any easier since the individual must still directly press the blister firmly to burst the foil below and extract the pill.